“The Amrest Group (holder of the Starbucks franchise in Romania i.e.) was the leader of the café and bars market in Romania in 2016, with a 2% market share,” Euromonitor report says.
The popularity of the brand among consumers of all ages and the expansion to the big cities of the country helped it consolidate this position, the Euromonitor analysts added.
The US brand has been operating in Romania for about a decade, having been held by various shareholders over time. The Starbucks franchise for Romania and Bulgaria has been held by Polish Amrest group since the spring of 2015.
Starbucks has been the leader of the coffee shop market in Romania for a number of years but the fast-paced expansion helped it gain market share. The café and bar market in Romania is one of the most heavily fragmented sectors in the local economy. It is still underdeveloped as few of the major international actors have a presence on it.
The world top ten café chains with a presence in Romania are McCafe (part of McDonald’s), Brioche Doree, Starbucks, Caffe Ritazza and Gloria Jean’s. All of them arrived as franchises, which goes to show the market is still underdeveloped.
The café and bars market is expected to grow over the coming years. The GDP growth will show in the minimum wage and average wage increases, Euromonitor says.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)